Having Difficulty Paying?
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If you have a problem with paying your rent, contact your Income Officer as soon as possible, who will make a repayment agreement with you based on your income and expenditure. Please choose one of the dropdown boxes that best suits your current situation.
Remember: If you do not pay your rent, you may lose your home.
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Universal Credit Claimants
If you receive Universal Credit, you may now receive the Housing Element directly.
This means you are responsible for paying your rent to Council Housing. If you need assistance, please call the Freephone Universal Credit Helpline on 0800 328 5644.
Can I Ask For An Advance Payment Of My Universal Credit?
You can ask for an advance payment of Universal Credit to help you get by while you're waiting for your first payment. This is called a ‘short term advance’.
Without a short-term advance it will take at least 5 or 6 weeks after you apply for Universal Credit to get your first payment. This is a loan and will have to be re-paid.
If you are unsure how to apply for an advance payment, please call the Freephone Universal Credit Helpline on 0800 328 5644.
To Help Me With My Situation, Are There Any Alternative Arrangements Available For How I Receive My Universal Credit?
Yes, you may apply for the following arrangements:
• You can have money paid directly to your landlord for rent - this means your rent will automatically get paid each month from your Universal Credit payment
• Your Payments can be provided weekly or fortnightly instead of monthly - this can help prevent you from running out of money if you’re struggling to make your payment last a whole month.
• Your payments can be split into two bank accounts instead of one (couples only) - this can help you manage your money yourself if you have responsibilities that are different to your partner’s, or if you’ve been a victim of abuse and want to manage your money yourself.
Rent Arrears
Our rent arrears policy is to make sure rent is collected on time and to make sure that tenants are given every assistance to clear rent arrears at an early stage. We have a process that means tenants are contacted as soon as their rent account falls into arrears.
We contact you at an early stage because rent arrears quickly accrue and delays in contacting you may lead to a higher debt to pay back, so the quicker we get in touch, the sooner the arrears can be sorted out.
We will work with you to try to resolve any problems and will make arrangements that are affordable for you. However, rent does have to be paid and ultimately, if we have taken all the action we can but if the arrears are not reducing, then we can, via the courts, repossess your home. For more information about how we deal with rent arrears ask at the council housing office for a 'Rent Arrears Handbook'.
You can download the 'Rent Arrears Handbook' by clicking here .
Our Income Management Team can assist with benefit checks and looking at ways you can maximise your income and decrease your expenditure to enable you to manage your rent account, they can also look at eligibility to various schemes to see what options are open to you for additional support. If the support you require is more complex, the team can help to identify other agencies or organisations who can assist you.
Please contact your Income Officer directly or via the Income Management Team on 01524 582541 to discuss your options.